Seite - 425 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

425Not All in This Together: Disability Rights and COVID-19 their ability to generate profits.19 People with disabilities experience complex forms of discrimination: their claims often involve intersect- ing and multiple grounds, which are compounded by COVID-19. Disability injustice amplifies gender and racial injustices, as illus- trated by the particular risk the virus poses to Black women with disabilities.20 The needs of persons with disabilities, including persons labelled with intellectual disabilities and consumers/survivors of the psychiat- ric system, have not consistently been considered a priority. Disability services have generally closed from face-to-face contact, includ- ing Service Canada’s locations that administer the Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit (CPP-D). There have been delays in process- ing payments through Ontario’s Passport Program, which provides essential funding to adults labelled with intellectual disabilities,21 and the Alberta Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program (AISH). Other critical services have closed altogether, such as Ontario’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP) which funds mobility devices, com- munication aids, and prostheses.22 These closures compound the isola- tion of those who rely on these essential supports to participate in our communities, leaving people without mobility devices altogether and more vulnerable to the physical, social, and economic impacts of the virus. Media reports described the shocking case of Michael Wilson, a Kitchener man with cerebral palsy, whose wheelchair broke down during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of the ADP office, he was unable to get a wheelchair vendor to provide a replacement. He has consequently been unable to leave his apartment and forced to survive on delivery pizza. Interestingly, he had initially been denied funding for a replacement wheelchair prior to the onset of the pan- demic, leaving him no choice but to file an appeal, illustrating how the impact of routine—but devastating—neoliberal cuts to the provision 19. Marta Russell, Beyond  Ramps:  Disability  at  the  End  of  the  Social  Contract, (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1998). 20. Treva Lindsey, “Why COVID-19 Is Hitting Black Women so Hard”, Women’s  Media Center (17 April 2020), online: <womensmediacenter.com/news-features/ why-covid-19-is-hitting-black-women-so-hard>; see Jamie Liew, this volume, Chapter D-7. 21. “ARCH Bulletin on COVID-19: Ontario Temporarily Increases Eligible Expenses under the Passport Program” (29 April 2020), online: ARCH  Disability  Law  Center <archdisabilitylaw.ca/resource/arch-bulletin-on-covid-19-passport-program/>. 22. “ARCH Bulletin on COVID-19: Ontario’s Assistive Devices Program No Longer Available” (22 April 2020), online: ARCH  Disability  Law  Center  <archdisability- law.ca/resource/arch-bulletin-on-covid-19-ontario-assistive-devices-program/>.